The first cohort of
GCC participants – 23 in-service teachers from public, private and independent
schools in nine states and the District of Columbia – are set to begin the
program September 15. Over the next 15 months they will complete a package of 10
high-touch online courses and spend three weeks in the field at Teachers
College-affiliated sites in Bangladesh, Tanzania, Colombia, Uganda and La Push,
Washington State.

“We’re all implicated in the world, of course”
says William Gaudelli, Associate Professor of Social Studies and Education, who
led development of the GCC curriculum. “Yet teachers rarely have any kind of
systematic preparation in their knowledge of the world, how it works in an
interdependent, global age, and how to understand this country as an actor in
it.”

Participants in the Global Competence Certificate Program earn a Certificate in Global Competence plus either 48 Continuing Education Units or 12 Graduate Credits.

Partial scholarships are available, and admissions are conducted on a rolling basis from October 13 through December 12, 2014. For more information, and to apply, visit: www.globalcompetencecertificate.org

World Savvy, co-founded
by Dana Mortenson, a graduate of Columbia’s School of International and Public
Affairs, in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, is dedicated to
preparing the next generation of leaders to function as responsible global
citizens. The Asia Society, founded in 1956 by John D. Rockefeller 3rd,
is the leading educational organization dedicated to promoting mutual
understanding partnership between Asian nations and the United States.

The GCC courses will
be taught by Gaudelli and several other faculty members, including Sandra Schmidt,
Assistant Professor of Social Studies & Education, and Olga Hubard, Associate
Professor of Art Education. Eleanor Drago-Severson, Professor of Education, is
developing a version of the program for people working in the nonprofit sector.

The courses, which
were co-designed with web specialists, use platforms provided by Blackboard and
other online education companies, and make extensive use of media to take
advantage of the online learning space. Some
of the classes are synchronous, allowing students to interact directly with
each other.

The curriculum is
divided into three areas, Think, Learn and Do.

The “Think” portion,
which explores the rationale for why global learning is critically important in
the 21st century, includes an introductory course taught by Gaudelli
in which teachers develop a global profile of their own schools.

“We look at how their
schools are connected to the wider world – where their students come from, what
languages they speak, where energy is sourced from, where waste goes ”

The “Learn” courses
focus on the content of globalization, Gaudelli says. “What’s the International
Monetary Fund? What are transnational corporations and how did they get to be
so powerful globally? What are human rights, how global are they, and how did
they get to be what they are today? What does it mean to live sustainably?”

The “Do” section is
about project-based learning and classroom discussion. Teachers are provided
with online resources and specific assignments and classroom activities they
can use with their students.

The field visits are
aimed at helping teachers prepare students to “work in a world that’s not like
a classroom,” Gaudelli says, and to understand how global issues are being
addressed at the local level.

“For me, that piece
was non-negotiable,” Gaudelli says. “In 1992, as a high school social studies
teacher, I went with my students to Russia for a month. It was transformative. We were in St.
Petersburg when the country was in shambles economically. Teachers need those
rich, disorienting cultural experiences in other parts of the world to bring
back to their work in the classroom.”

Plans are to enroll
up to 100 students in the GCC program by spring. Within TC, Gaudelli says, the
effort could eventually expand to become a full-fledged degree program.

“I have a great sense
of urgency about this work, and it only grows over time,” Gaudelli says. “There
are conflicts breaking out regularly and a host of problems that are not
bordered but require a concerted, global response. Global interdependence creates
a growing need to get our act together in a timely way to address significant
problems.” -- Joe Levine

The first cohort of
GCC participants – 23 in-service teachers from public, private and independent
schools in nine states and the District of Columbia – are set to begin the
program September 15. Over the next 15 months they will complete a package of 10
high-touch online courses and spend three weeks in the field at Teachers
College-affiliated sites in Bangladesh, Tanzania, Colombia, Uganda and La Push,
Washington State.

“We’re all implicated in the world, of course”
says William Gaudelli, Associate Professor of Social Studies and Education, who
led development of the GCC curriculum. “Yet teachers rarely have any kind of
systematic preparation in their knowledge of the world, how it works in an
interdependent, global age, and how to understand this country as an actor in
it.”

Participants in the Global Competence Certificate Program earn a Certificate in Global Competence plus either 48 Continuing Education Units or 12 Graduate Credits.

Partial scholarships are available, and admissions are conducted on a rolling basis from October 13 through December 12, 2014. For more information, and to apply, visit: www.globalcompetencecertificate.org

World Savvy, co-founded
by Dana Mortenson, a graduate of Columbia’s School of International and Public
Affairs, in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, is dedicated to
preparing the next generation of leaders to function as responsible global
citizens. The Asia Society, founded in 1956 by John D. Rockefeller 3rd,
is the leading educational organization dedicated to promoting mutual
understanding partnership between Asian nations and the United States.

The GCC courses will
be taught by Gaudelli and several other faculty members, including Sandra Schmidt,
Assistant Professor of Social Studies & Education, and Olga Hubard, Associate
Professor of Art Education. Eleanor Drago-Severson, Professor of Education, is
developing a version of the program for people working in the nonprofit sector.

The courses, which
were co-designed with web specialists, use platforms provided by Blackboard and
other online education companies, and make extensive use of media to take
advantage of the online learning space. Some
of the classes are synchronous, allowing students to interact directly with
each other.

The curriculum is
divided into three areas, Think, Learn and Do.

The “Think” portion,
which explores the rationale for why global learning is critically important in
the 21st century, includes an introductory course taught by Gaudelli
in which teachers develop a global profile of their own schools.

“We look at how their
schools are connected to the wider world – where their students come from, what
languages they speak, where energy is sourced from, where waste goes ”

The “Learn” courses
focus on the content of globalization, Gaudelli says. “What’s the International
Monetary Fund? What are transnational corporations and how did they get to be
so powerful globally? What are human rights, how global are they, and how did
they get to be what they are today? What does it mean to live sustainably?”

The “Do” section is
about project-based learning and classroom discussion. Teachers are provided
with online resources and specific assignments and classroom activities they
can use with their students.

The field visits are
aimed at helping teachers prepare students to “work in a world that’s not like
a classroom,” Gaudelli says, and to understand how global issues are being
addressed at the local level.

“For me, that piece
was non-negotiable,” Gaudelli says. “In 1992, as a high school social studies
teacher, I went with my students to Russia for a month. It was transformative. We were in St.
Petersburg when the country was in shambles economically. Teachers need those
rich, disorienting cultural experiences in other parts of the world to bring
back to their work in the classroom.”

Plans are to enroll
up to 100 students in the GCC program by spring. Within TC, Gaudelli says, the
effort could eventually expand to become a full-fledged degree program.

“I have a great sense
of urgency about this work, and it only grows over time,” Gaudelli says. “There
are conflicts breaking out regularly and a host of problems that are not
bordered but require a concerted, global response. Global interdependence creates
a growing need to get our act together in a timely way to address significant
problems.” -- Joe Levine